Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy

137 Pages·1986·13.37 MB·English

by  Manfred M. Junius

Practical Handbook of
Alchemy
Plant
Manfred M. Junius
Translated by Leone Muller
Contents
Preface V11
1 Spagyria and Spagyrics 1
2 Advice of Basilius Valentinus 23
3 The Three Philosophical Principles and the Elements 30
4 Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt in the Plant World 54
5 The Extraction of the Three Philosophi al Principles
from Plants 60
1. The Extraction of the Essential Oils, That Is, of the
Volatile Sulfur 61
A. Distillation by Boiling in Water 62
B. Distillation by Means ofSteam 65
C. Distillation with an Oil Separator 66
2. Mercury 69
A. Separation 70
B. Purification 72
3. Fixed Sulfur and Its Salt 86
4. Salt 93
6 The Stars 96
1. The Foundations 96
2. Stars and Medicinal Plants 101
The Sun 101
The Moon 104
CONTENTS
106
109
112
115
119
Pre ace
Days, Hours, and Rhythms of the Planets 122 -
4. The Exact Horoscope as the Basis for the Works 132
7 Preparation of Spagyric Tinctures and Essences 138
1 Tinctures 138
A. Spagyric Tinctures through Cold-Maceration 140
The renewed valuation of natural healing methods in our time
B. Spagyric Tinctures by Soxhlet Extraction 143
has led to a steadily growing interest in medicinal plants and their
2. Essences 146 classical-and thus also the spagyric--methods of preparation . The
C. Spagyric Essences Prepared from Tinctures 147 practice of spagyrics consists in the application of alchemical, or
D. Spagyric Essences from Fresh Plants through Fermentation 150 parachemical, findings and methods to the preparation of tinctures,
E. Spagyric Essences from Fresh Plants through Fermentation essences, and other products from the medicinal plants at our
after Addition of Fermentable Sugars 151 disposal. This book aims to give the reader an understanding of
F. Spagyric Essences from Fresh Plants with Separation of the these methods.
Etheric Oils and Subsequent Fermentation of the Residue 152 I have tried to present spagyrics holistically. Without knowl-
G. The Method ofJohann Rudolf Glauber 154 edge of the conceptual world and background of spagyric thought,
8 Circulation 158 a mere practical methodology would be incomplete . The most
important methods of preparation are discussed separately, while
9 The Plant Magistery of Paracelsus 162 corresponding important textual passages are quoted in the origi-
10 The Circulatum Minus of Urbigerus 166 nal.
At the same time, as an experimental manual, this work will, it
11 Elixir- Clyssus- Vegetable Stone 183 is hoped, stimulate the practice of spagyrics. By the very nature of
12 Alchemical Signs and Symbols 233 our field, such a book can never be complete . Moreover, a certain
inconsistency is hard to avoid. The vast field of spagyrics presents
13 Old Weights 246
itself rather like a mosaic that is only slowly completed by the
Epilogue: How Can We Heal? 248 collaboration of the reader.
Notes The lively response to the original Italian version induced me
253
to enlarge this work in the German language, on which the present
Bibliography
261 English translation is based. The bibliography contains the titles of
further works that may later be consulted for advanced studies .
It is assumed that the reader has a fundamental knowledge of
botanic medicine, or that he or she is willing to acquire it. For that
vi
PREFACE PREFACE
reason, this book does not deal with individual medicinal plants. in Adelaide; and to the Ayurvedic physician Dr . $hagwan Dash of
Several excellent works on this subject are easily available . (See New Delhi, also a much-revered teacher of the author. Thanks
the bibliography.) also to Hans Nintzel for his kind assistance in reading the English
In principle, spagyric preparations contain the curative powers manuscript.
of the plants used in each case, either integrally or partially . By
further specific processes unique to spagyrics, these curative pow-
ers can be further potentized either all together or separately .
The hermetic terminology often strikes the uninitiated as
strange and can easily lead to misunderstanding; one must there-
fore familiarize oneself with the often dramatic and always figura-
tive language of this field, although it thereby loses much of its
beauty and evocativeness. Anyone who walked into a laboratory
supply store asking for suitable equipment for the "extraction of
the Philosophical Principles" of plants, or for an "alembic for
spirits," would be greeted by a perplexed look, unless the sales-
clerk happened to have a knowledge of spagyrics. An initiated
spagyrist, however, would immediately understand the request and
be able to make appropriate suggestions, for behind these terms
which at first seem absurd are hidden clear concepts.
The classification of plants after the seven planets of antiquity
may arouse reformatory urges in modern astrologers. Modern
astrological research also takes into consideration the transsaturni-
ans, and possibly still other influences and rhythms . Out of respect
for the classical tradition, I have limited myself to the septenary.
Besides, a distinction has to be made between the seven planetary
principles as such and their planets.
In our time, parachemistry has become ever more accessible to
the public and is today practiced in many countries. Medicines
from the leading spagyric pharmaceutical companies as well as
from good individual spagyrists are helping people throughout the
world.
The bibliography of the Swiss edition retains several titles from
the original Italian edition. Similarly, the acknowledgments ex-
pressed there are repeated here . Special thanks are due to Mr.
Augusto Pancaldi, Ascona, friend and teacher of the author; to
Professor Dr. Krishna Kumar, formerly of the Calabrian State
University, today general manager of the Australerba Laboratories
viii
1
Spagyria and Spagyrics
Therefore, learn Alchimiam, otherwise called
Spagyria, which teaches you to separate the
false from the true. -Paracelsus
In the word spagyria two Greek words are hidden: span, to draw
out, to divide; and ageiro, to gather, to bind, to join. These two
concepts form the foundation of every genuine alchemical work,
hence the often-quoted phrase "Solve et coagula, et habebis magisteriuml"
(Dissolve and bind, and you will have the magistery).1
The alchemical work always takes place in three stages : (1) sepa-
ration, (2) purification, and (3) cohobation (recombination, or the
"chymical wedding"). In the spagyrist's view, these actions lead
to an increase and a release of certain curative powers in the initial
species.
Spagyric is the application of alchemical working methods to
the production of medicaments.
When we learn that the famous physician Theophrastus
Bombastus von Hohenheim, better known as Paracelsus (c. 1493-
1541), prepared a large part of his famous medicines according to
spagyric methods, we must thereby understand a very high level of
Spagyria and Spagyrics
PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF PLANT ALCHEMY
How do spagyric plant remedies differ from nonspagyric ones?
the hermetic art. The latter has little in common with vulgar
Ordinary tinctures, infusions, decoctions, and the like, utilize in
alchemy, which is often disparagingly called "the art of gold-
part the curative powers of the plants from which they are prepared.
making.
The spagyric preparation "opens" the plant and by its own process
The beginnings of this true hermetic art are to this day shrouded
liberates stronger curative powers. It is in principle synergistic, and
in obscurity. We know that the hermetic-spagyric method of
less interested in isolated pharmacologically active principles . We
preparation was known to many ancient cultures. In ancient China,2
for instance, in India,3 and among the ancient Egyptians4 we find cannot do justice to the methodology of spagyrics if we measure it
according to the standards of analytical chemistry or pharmacology,
important contributions to alchemical medicine . Between the an-
even if these sciences can explain in their own way part of the
cient Indian and Chinese alchemy there exist many parallels. In
effects of spagyric remedies. Just as homeopathy has its own find-
India, alchemical preparations are part of the southern Indian siddha
ings, experiences, and laws, which cannot be comprehended solely
medicine, of Ayurvedic medicine as also of Unani medicine, which
by the prevailing chemical-analytical knowledge, so, too, does
came later to India through the Muslims and represents a further
spagyric insist on its own standards, for which it has its own
development of ancient Greek medicine.
conceptions and symbols. In the case of many of these conceptions
The alchemy of the Western schools is chiefly based on the
and ideas we are dealing with analogies, which, however, prove to
Egyptian tradition. In ancient Egypt, hermetism was taught in the
be extremely valuable, just as in traditional acupuncture .6
temples of Memphis and Thebes. From the writings of Zosimos of
We must not consider spagyrics and alchemy as a whole merely
Panopolis (Akhmin, A.D. 300) we learn that alchemy was practiced
a preliminary stage of the later scientific chemistry. It is rather
in Egypt under the supervision of kings and priests, and that
another way of looking at nature and its !powers. And as modern
divulging the secrets of this art was against the law .s The hermetic
Western chemistry and medicine, at the latest since Virchow,
art was taught exclusively by oral transmission.
broke completely with the chemical and medicinal arts of the past,
The Arabs were the chief agents for transmitting theoretical
many perceptions of spagyrics have remained closed to them.
and practical alchemy to the Europeans, who then merged it with
There exists a somewhat similar relation between chemistry and
the Christian tradition.
alchemy as between neurophysiology and acupuncture. Felix Mann,
Among the historically accessible European sources, special
M.D., president of the Medical Acupuncture Society, who has
mention must be made of the writings of Paracelsus . Before the
striven for many years for a scientific explanation of acupuncture
much older Indian and Chinese traditions became known in the
in the Western sense, writes in one of his books:
West, the Paracelsian writings constituted the earliest information
that could be dated with certainty. The dating of earlier texts, What I have written . . . [in this work] might give the reader
including many Oriental ones, is uncertain, and their authorship is the impression, that there is little left to acupuncture, for I
elusive. The substructure of the whole alchemical world of ideas is have demolished practically the whole of the traditional theo-
strongly metaphorical and mythological, largely lacking the modern retical framework. This is far from being the case, for I practise
historical thinking that Westerners value so highly. It is no wonder, acupuncture exclusively about90%of my time, and I would not
do so if did not achieve results than in practising Western
then, that many Western alchemists constantly refer to Paracelsus, I better
medicine' in the appropriate type disease or dysfunction.
and that several institutes bear his name. of
There are, of course, many diseases where Western medicine
In his book Paragranum, Paracelsus says: "The third foundation
is better than acupuncture.
upon which medicine rests is alchemy. If the physician does not
The crux of the matter is that I try to combine acupuncture
have good ability and experience in it, his art is in vain."
3
PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF PLANT ALCHEMY Spagyria and Spagyrics
the principles of Western physiology, anatomy and medi- We rightly admire the amazing height of metallurgical knowl-
w general. In some instances Chinese theory explains edge in ancient India and China. The bhafmas of Indian Ayurvedic
na better than Western theory, and hence I treat the medicine, which chemically are metallic oxides, have proved to be
ne accordingly. I try to keep my feet in both camps, for excellent remedies in both ancient and modern times .10 Thus, for
much that is unknown to Western physiology that can example, lohd-bhaima, a specially prepared metallic oxide, does not
ecrtain way be explained by Chinese tradition, or at least
show any of the known side effects of many Western iron prepara-
of it can be explained to know how to treat a patient
tions and therefore causes neither constipation nor digestive troubles.
au acupuncture point of view7
It quickly enters the bloodstream and raises the hemoglobin content,
ply succumb to the temptation to judge the whole whereas many Western iron preparations can lead to gastric troubles
knowledge of the past by the criteria of the current and other side effects, even when they are injected intravenously .
stern science, which leads to a distortion or an in- These Ayurvedic bhaimas are made by calcining metals (to which I
perception of genuine connections. shall refer later in detail), followed by immersing them in plant
can never lead to a complete perception, because the juices. This process is repeated many times, until the preparation has
ways greater than its parts. Thus, for instance, analytical reached the desired condition.
tions of old Italian master violins have never been able to Alchemists occasionally speak about an elevation (exaltatio) of
the secret of the famous violinmakers of Cremona. The the basic substances. Spagyrists are of the opinion that these eleva-
icntific examination of the old violinmaking, including the tions liberate specific energies. Let us consider two reproductions
of the famous varnishes, could never lead to new heights from "Sapientia veterum philosophorum sive doctrina eorundem
unmaking, because it solely undertook the "solve" but not de summa et universali medicina," a m4nuscript of the eighteenth
gula." The quality of the master instruments of Stradivari century, preserved in Paris."
raeri del Gesu has remained unattainable to this day. I once In Figure 1 we recognize a hermetically sealed flask, in which
famous contemporary violinmaker, who could literally four states of aggregation and a pelican are indicated . The exalta-
an old instrument to new life, to tell me the "secret" of the tion takes place in a pelican (see page 160), that is, in a reflux
Mailers of Cremona. His reply was clear: "There are no secrets system.
of tricks, as you might think. The `secrets' consist of the Figure 2 shows the exalted essence: the volatile (white) is
knowledge of natural laws and their bases, which the old simultaneously above and below, right and left, likewise the fixed
understood better than we today." (dark). In the center of the circle a phoenix is rising out of the fire,
to similar with spagyrics. The spagyrist has to "stand in the while the aura of flames surrounding the flash denotes the now
nature, to quote once more from Paracelsus. liberated energy in the form of radiation. The states of aggregation
connection, a quotation from the Rgveda is here also are here united; the "circle of clouds" is running its course.
structure of pure knowledge-expression of the Veda To arrive at this release of higher energies, the alchemical art is
in the immortal field of transcendental conscious- required. Let us listen to what Paracelsus has to say in this regard:
all impulses of creative intelligence [or the laws of
lh are responsible for the organization of the whole of
Nature is extremely subtle and penetrating in her mani-
As
w*c their seat. "s festations, she cannot be used without the Art. Indeed, she
saying from an Indian guru of our age: "Knowledge is does not produce anything that is perfect in itself, but man
ciousness."9 must make it perfect, and this perfecting is called alchemy . .
5
Spagyria and Spagyrics
soluble salts are mostly (but not always!) rejected as Caput Mortuum
(Death's Head) or terra damnata (damned earth), while the water-
soluble ones go into the preparation as Sal salis (Salt of the salts).
Experience has shown that these salts have great curative effects,
and they are therefore also often used by themselves.
Like all alchemical methods of preparation, spagyrics considers
the so-called three Philosophical Principles, also known as Es-
sentials, the essential carriers of the curative powers. These three
Essentials are designated as Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt. They must
not be mistaken for the usual meaning of these words in present-
day chemistry. By means of special processes, which we shall learn
later, they are separated, cleansed (purification), and finally re-
combined (cohobation or chymical wedding).
Fig. I
And as medicine must not act without the participation of
heaven, it must act together with it. Therefore you must treat
it in order to free it from the Earth ;12 and as the latter is not
ruled by heaven, it must be removed in the preparation of the
medicine. When you have separated the medicine from the
Earth, it obeys the will ofthe stars, that is, it will be guided by
them.
[Paragranum]
Whereas in the preparation of simple tinctures the plant residues
are thrown out after the extraction, spagyric herbal preparations
always contain the salts obtained through incineration and calcina-
tion of the plant residue. These are partly water-soluble and are
leached from the calcined material with distilled water . By evapo-
rating the water, one can make them visible. The non-water- Fig. 2
7
6
PkAC'IICAL HANDBOOK OF PLANT ALCHEMY Spagyria and Spagyrics
ong time modem Western pharmacology has been de- fairly large amounts of salt. Even fruitjuice beverages were often
votcd to the investigation of single active substances that were, or served salted. Aside from the omnipresent tea, the typical summer
arc, extracted from the species. It has carried out the "solve," but beverage was the dearly beloved nimbu pant, a mixture of lemon
only in rare cases the "coagula." Nevertheless, this modern re- juice, well water, and salt. Slowly I got used to many alien
search is absolutely valuable. It has made possible, for instance, the conceptions of nutrition, among others also the custom of always
xact determination of critical amounts of certain substances and being served two small seeds in half a papaya fruit, instead of eating
their specific weight, as well as many other qualitative-quantitative the fruit without seeds. When I inquired about the reason for this
experiments. Through the pioneer work of nutritionists and naturo- custom, approximately the following conversation developed:
paths who had not made a complete break with the past but linked "Why do we always find two seeds in the papaya? Is there any
up with tradition, the holistic manufacture and dispensing of plant symbolic meaning? "
medicaments has gained ground once more . Even if some scientists "The two seeds are good for your health. They contain sub-
have been holding on to extreme specialization up to today, and stances that act favorably upon the digestive system during the
have thereby largely lost the great synoptic view, science as a digestion of the food. Always eat the seeds together with the fruit.
whole is nevertheless on the way to a new integral perspective . In We have our own traditional medicine and a precise science of
this connection, many quotations can be cited . Here are a few of nutrition. It is founded on insights that differ in many ways from
them: your Western medicine. The word Ayurveda means `science of life.'
Ayurvedic medicine is one of the most successful systems of treat-
Our daily experience, down to the smallest detail, seems to ment by a precise science of nutrition, and a highly developed
be so much dovetailed into the large-scale features of the
preventive medicine. One of its goals -i to make the organism
universe that it is practically impossible to consider the two as
capable of resistance. Where your physicians proceed with anti-
separate.13
biotics, often in cases where they are not necessary, the Ayurvedic
Modern physics teaches us that the "raw material" of the physician would rather aim at an intensification of the defensive
universe is an energy flow in fields of which matter represents forces. He achieves this by restoring the balance of forces in the
only a manifestation. Einstein already said: "The field is the organism. It is like the combative sports: Whoever has balance,
sole reality."14
stands firm. Where stability loses equilibrium, lability ensues, as
It was not possible to formulate the laws of the quantum in judo. By this I do not mean to say anything against your medi-
theory without referring to consciousness. cine, which is excellent in surgery and technology. Indeed, every
Is
system has its place, and none is quite complete without the other.
The exact definition of biochemical processes presents itself not Or take UnAni medicine. The word Unanrmeans "Greek," properly
only as a chemical but often also as an alchemical, or nuclear- speaking, "Ionic." This system is akin to your classical medicine,
chemical, problem. To understand, respectively to try to under- Hippocrates and others. The Muslims brought it to our country.
stand, the subtle effect of specific substances, we must become "There are many processes in our organism-and I beg you to
conversant with the concept of transmutation. understand this word in a much wider sense than you are perhaps
Let us begin with a personal experience of the author. used to-which the official Western medicine does not know. The
When, as a young student at an Indian university, I was obliged prana energy of the breath and the nadis, for example, are unknown
to eat in the Mensa, some food at first gave me trouble, especially to Western medicine, likewise the meridians of Chinese medicine .
the custom of eating citrus fruit, in particular grapefruit, with Breathing is not only oxygen absorption. Still quite different
R 9
PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF PLANT ALCHEMY Spagyria and Spagyrics
energies and transformations of energy are involved . My father who were preserved from heatstroke and exhaustion, even at
was a vaidya [Ayurvedic physician] in Allahabad. You will see that enormous temperatures and while working intensely, all took large
it will not be long before Ayurvedic medicine is also taught at our amounts of sea salt, mostly in the form of tablets. (These tablets had
modern universities."16 also been distributed to the British armed forces in India during the
"That may be so. But perhaps you could explain to me why colonial times.) Repeated investigations by Dr. Kervran, which
fruit and lemonade are always salted here. I am always advised to were also confirmed by other researchers, proved that the perspira-
drink a great deal here in India, as much liquid evaporates through tion of the workers contained a very high percentage of potassium
the skin in the heat. Is salt meant to bind the water in the body? Or after taking the salt tablets. Table salt, however, is sodium chloride,
to replace the salts lost with the liquid?" not potassium. What had happened to the sodium?
"It is not quite so simple. We cannot simply replace certain It had changed into potassium within the organism and could
salts essential to life with table salt or with natural sea salt. Salt later be detected in the perspiration in the already mentioned high
brings a certain freshness. It protects you from exhaustion in great amounts. This process uses up calories. ("Salt brings a certain
heat. Wheat, for instance, is cool and sweet by nature, and its freshness. It protects you from exhaustion in great heat .") Hence
digestive product is sweet. This water buffalo's milk here is fat and the cooling effect, an endothermic process.
cool. According to the Ayurveda, there are eight different kinds of Dr. Kervran formulated this process as follows:
honey, for example, fresh sweet honey, astringent honey, light and
cool honey, and so on. This fruit here (papaya) is sweet, heavy,
23Na 160 = 39K
appetizing, and it reducespitta. What pitta (gall) means, I'll explain +
to you when the time comes." 11 8 19
"But how can I feel fresh when this sharp salt is in my body? "
"It produces many effects in the organism. Do take up the This formula represents the substantial side of the progress; the
Indian science of nutrition and medicine. I advise you in good faith energy factor is not discernible in it.
to become accustomed to our eating and drinking habits." Such nuclear-chemical formulas-we can call them "alchemical"
It was good advice. During half of my life in India, I was never or "parachemical" formulas-have not been in use for very long .
seriously ill, which may be attributed to, a healthy way of life, The ancient masters used other symbols, among them often very
adapted to Indian conditions and the Ayurveda . impressive, highly dramatic images, such as dragons with or with-
For a long time I could not find a completely satisfactory out wings, red and green lions, snakes, crows, eagles, toads, sala-
explanation for the frequent use of salt . The often-heard assertion manders, flowers, trees, chains, and gods and goddesses . We are
that it was merely a replacement for the secretion of lost salts and prone today to express many parachemical processes in nuclear-
substances did not satisfy me, if only for the reason that sea salt chemical formulas, which were of course unknown to the ancient
does :not contain all physiologically necessary salts and trace ele- masters. But we should not overlook the fact that the concrete and
ments. Only the study of alchemy-more exactly, of biological metaphorical language of the alchemists is not only of great beauty
transmutations-could throw some light upon the problem . Now a but also very evocative and precise. C. G. Jung, who was at first
few words about this. confused by the language of alchemistic treatises, later, after ad-
When the biologist Dr. L. C. Kervran was on official mission in vanced studies, pointed out the extraordinary coherence and pre-
the Sahara in 1959, he observed that those technicians and workmen cision of alchemistic concepts and formulations-true, always from
10 11